Convertible seed planting hopper



y 6, 9 w. E. DEAN 2,240,610

CONVERTIBLE SEED PLANTING HOPPER Original Filed, Nov. 30,, 1956 2Sheets-Sheet l Wil/llam 5. Dean y 1941- w. E. DEAN 2,240,610

CONVERTIBLE SEED PLANTI NG HOPPER Original Filed Nov. 30. 1936 2Sheets-Sheet 2 .55 m -Z 1! maa gvwq/who'b Will/6m. 5. Dean Patented May6, 1941 UNITED MATES PATENT ()FFICE CONVERTIBLE SEED PLANTING HOPPER Wilam E- Dea Portland, A k- Original application November 30, 1936, SerialNo.

113,288. Divided and this application November 25, 1938, Serial No.242,157 l (or. zen-125) 2 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in convertibleseed planting hoppers.

This application is filed as a divisional application of my co-pendingapplication filed November 30, 1936, Serial No. 113,288.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved convertible hopperfor planting seeds, which is adapted to be used as a single or doublehopper.

An important object of the invention is to provide an improved hopperhaving a plurality of compartments each having an individual outlet withmeans for ejecting the seed from each compartment to its respectiveoutlet in a desired order, whereby the seeds may be dropped from thecompartments in any desired order.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved convertiblehopper which is so constructed that one or more species or varieties ofseed may be planted in the same furrow at the same time, whereby thenecessity of passing the planting device over the same ground twice iseliminated.

A particular object of the invention is to provide an improvedconvertible hopper for planters which includes a stationary plate havingopenmgs therein and a movable plate also having openings, the latterplate being arranged to coact with the stationary plate so as toregister the openings in said plates to permit seed to enter and passthrough said openings, together with positive means carried by thestationary plate for ejecting the seed from the openings in the movableplate.

A construction designed to carry out the invention will be hereinafterdescribed, together with other features of the invention.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of thefollowing specification and by reference to the accompanying drawings,in which an example of the invention is shown, and wherein:

Figure l is a side elevation of a hopper, constructed in accordance withthe invention, and mounted on a planting device,

Figure 2 is a view, partly in elevation and partly in section, of thehopper,

Figure 3 is a horizontal, cross-sectional view, taken on the line 3-3 ofFigure 2,

Figure 4 is a plan View of the distributing plate of the hopper,

Figure 5 is a partial plan view of the cover plate showing the ejectiondogs and wipers,

Figure 6 is a transverse, vertical, sectional view taken through one ofthe ejection dogs and showing said dogs in their lowermost position,

Figure '7 is a similar view showing the dog swung to its raisedposition,

Figure 8 is a partial plan view of the cover plate which forms the-bottom of the hopper and showing one of the wiper elements,

Figure 9 is a transverse, vertical, sectional View boxes ll and atransverse axlell is mountedv in said boxes and carried by the forwardend of the frame. A suitable traction wheel I2 is mounted on themid-portion of the transverse axle H and a suitable plow l3 which isadapted to engage the ground to cut a furrow is disposed behind thewheel. For supporting the rear end of the frame l-fl a small wheel [4 isjournaled on a transverse shaft and the outer ends of said shaft aresecured to the lower ends of pivoted arms It, the upper ends of the armsbeing pivoted to the frame. The arms are connected to a hand lever 25which is mounted on the frame and when'the lever is swung the wheel israised or lowered. The method for raising and lowering the wheel M hasbeen set out in my 00- pending application Serial No. 113,288 and formsno part of the present invention.

Mounted on the frame It! is a cylindrical hopper [6 having its upper endopen while its lower end is closed by a transverse bottom ll. Thisbottom is provided with forwardly extending spaced lugs 13 which haveopenings I9 therein, whereby a. transverse shaft 18' extending betweenthe frame bars of the frame may pass through said opening to pivotallymount the hopper on said shaft. A single lug 2Q, having a pin 2!extending from one side thereof, is provided on the lower end of thehopper at its rear peripheral edge as shown in Figure 3. This pinengages within a slot 22 in one arm of a bell crank lever 23, whichlever is pivoted to one of the frame bars. The other arm of the bellcrank lever is pi-votally connected with one end of an elongatedactuating bar 24 and the opposite end of this bar is provided with anelongate slot 25,

through which a pin on the hand lever 26 extends. Thus, it will be seenthat when the hand lever is swung to raise or lower the wheel [4, thebell crank 23 will be swung through the medium of the actuating bar 24,whereby the rear end of the hopper will be raised or lowered to swingthe hopper.

The bottom i! of the hopper (Figure 2) is provided with an opening orslot 21 which is located at the periphery thereof adjacent the lug 26.The walls of the slot are inclined'so that said slot is larger at thebottom than the top, whereby clogging of the same is prevented. V 7 Ex-32 and the top of the bottom 11, the openings 40 being in registrationwith the slot 36 will receive seeds which have been introduced into thecompartment B and. have fallen into said slot 36. Similarly, seedintroduced into the compartment A fall into the slot 35 and will thustending downwardly from this opening or slot 21 V are a pair of chutes28 and 23, as clearly shown in Figure 2. The chute 28 is substantiallyvertical and has its lower end located'just above the rear portion ofthe plow l3. The upper end. of the chute 23 has outwardly extendingangular ears 28' which are fastened by bolts 28a to the frame Hi'beneaththe hopper. The other chute 29 is jcurvedrrearwardly so that itsoutlet or lowermostendis located at a rearwardly position of the plowI3. As can be seen in Figure 10, the uppermost end of .the chute 29 isprovided with a transverse pin 36 whichengages in notches 3| provided inthe upper end of the chute 23. Thus it can be seen that the chute 23 isfree to swing with relation to the chute 28, so as to permit independentmovement of the chute 29 in case an obstruction or obstacle strikes saidchute.

For distributing the seed to the chutes 28 and 29, a circular coverplate 32 is located within the hopper l6, being suitably fastenedtherein by welding, or otherwise. This cover plate, as clearly shown inFigureZ, is spaced from the bottom H of the hopper and it will beobviousthat seeds dropped into'said hopper will fall onto this coverplate. The cover plate (Figure 3) is formed with a pair of annulargrooves 33 and 34 in its underside, which grooves are angular incross-section.

The groove 33 is formed on a greater radius than is the groove 34whereby the grooves are concentric and said outer groove 33 has aportion thereof cut completelythrough the plate to form an verse,vertical partition 31 extends diametrically across the interior of thehopper and, as is clearly shown in Figure 3, separates the slot 35 fromthe slot-36, wherebythe hopper is divided into two compartments A and B.

The seed which is introduced into thecom partment A will drop into theslot 35, while the seed which is introduced into the compartment B willfall into the arcuate slot 36. Disposed between the cover plate 32 andthe bottom I! of the hopper is a distributing plate 38. This plate willvary in construction according to the seed which is to be planted andone type of plate is shown in Figure 4. This plate is for plantingcorn-and beans andthe plate is circular, having substantially the samediameter as the hopper,

' and is provided with a trio of openings 39 which are located near itsperiphery, all of the openings 39 being located on the same radii. Asecond trio of openings or holes 46 are also formed in theplate and aredisposed on a smaller radii than are theopenings 39. The openings 39 and46 are so positioned that the latter-register with the inner groove 34and inner slot 36. -Therefore, itwill be obvious that with thedistributing plate as position between the coverplate enter the openings33 in the distributing plate. The seed which has entered these openings39 and 43 cannot fall through such openings because the bottom of thehopper ii is located contiguous to the underside of the distributingplate 38.

The distributing plate 36 is provided with an axial opening, throughwhich a vertical stub shaft 4| extends. The stub shaft is suitablymounted in the bottom I! of the hopper and is keyed or otherwisefastened to the distributor plate 38, wherebyrotation of the shaft willrotate the distributor plate. Therefore, the distributor plate isrotatable within the hopper between the static-nary cover plate 32 andthe stationary bottom 51 of said hopper.

Assuming that the corn is to be introduced into the compartment A, whilethe beans are introduced into the compartment B, it will be seen thatthe seeds in the respective compartments will fall into the slots 35 and36. As the distributor plate 38 rotates beneath the cover plate 32 itwill be seen that the corn in the slot 35 will enter the openings 39 insaid distributor plate, while the beans in the slot 36 will enter theopening 46 in said plate. As each opening passes from beneath itsrespective slot, the seed will-be scraped off of the distributing plate,except that portion of the seed which is in the openings 39 and 46, andkept in its compartment by a scraper blade 4| which is located at eachend of the slots 35 and 36. The details of the scraper blade are shownin Figures 8 and, 9.. The lower end of the blade rides on the,

upper face of the distributor plate 38 extending through the slot in thecover plate. The upper end of the blade is pivoted on a pin 42 whichextends across or through a housing '43 mounted on top of the coverplate 32. As can be seen'in Figure 8, a spring 44 is bent upon itself toform a yoke which overlies the central portionof said blade. The springis coiled around the shaft 42 and its extremities curve upwardly andcontact a cover 45 which'closes the-top of the housing; with sucharrangement, the spring exerts the pressure to urge the blade downwardlyinto engagement with the distributing plate. The cover is secured to thehousing by a tap screw 45 which extends through the same and is threadedin a threaded opening 46 provided for the purpose.

The action of the wiper blades is obvious for as the seed are carriedaround through the slot by the distributing plate 38, some of these seedwill enter the openings in said distributor, plate. The remaining seedwill lie on the surface of said plate and will be carried around throughthe slot and as it strikes thescraper blade 4| this seed will be movedupwardly into the compartment, whereby the seed is prevented frompassing into the groove which is in' registration with the slot.Therefore, it will be seen that the scraper blades serveto hold the seedin the compartment in which it has been introduced. t

The seed which has entered the openings 39 and 46 in the distributorplate will, of course, remain in said openings because said seed cannotfall therethrough because of the bottom H of the hopper. Therefore, theseed within the openings will be carried around as the plate 38 rotates.The seeds within the openings 39 which are those seeds from thecompartment A of the hopper willpass "beneath a pivoted dog 47 which dogis mounted Withina housing 8 secured on the cover plate 32. The dog ispivoted on a transverse pin 50 fastened in the walls of the housing anda spring has a yoke-shaped portion which overlies the dog. The spring iswound around the pin and has its ends engaging the closure 52 of thehousing 48, whereby said spring urges the dog downwardly. As is clearlyshown in Figure 7, the dog ll extends through an opening 49 in the coverplate and normally rides on the upper surface of the distributor plate,being held in contact therewith by the spring 5!.

The lower end of the dog is rounded and the dog is so located in theplate 32 that the open- .ing 39 in the distributor plate 38 will passtherebeneath as the plate rotates. Thus, it will be seen that the seedwhich has been trapped in the opening 39 will be carried around by therotation of the plate 38 until the opening passes beneath the dog 41 atwhich time said dog enters the opening 39 and forces the seed which istherein downwardly from said opening. Immediately below the dog s1 isthe outlet opening or slot 21 in the bottom ll of the hopper. In thisopening is located the upper end of the inclined outlet chute 29 wherebythe seed which is forced from the opening 39 in the distributor plate isdropped downwardly into the inclined chute 29.

A similar arrangement for ejecting the seeds from the inner opening Gilin the distributor plate is provided. A dog 53 similar in every detailto the dog 47 is mounted on the cover plate 32 in alinement with theopening it. Also disposed in alinement with the opening 69 and mountedin the outlet opening 21 in the bottom I! of the hopper is the upper endof the vertical chute 28 whereby the seeds which are ejected from theopenings ab by the dog 53 will drop into the vertical chute 28. Thus, itwill be seen that as the distributor plate 38 rotates, the seed from theseparate compartments A and B of the hopper will enter the openings 39and ii] of said plate and will be deposited or directed to therespective outlet chutes 28 and 29. With this arrangement, the seeds inthe compartment B will be ejected from the outlet 28, while the seeds inthe compartment A will be ejected from the chute 29.

The distributor plate 38 may be rotated by any suitable means but it ispreferable to mount a bevelled gear 54 on the lower end of the stubshaft M. When the hopper It is in its lowermost position as shown inFigure l, the gear 54 is in engagement with a pinion 55 which pinion ismounted on a shaft suitably connected and supported by the frame it. Theouter end of the shaft is DIOVldEd with a suitable sprocket wheel overwhich an endless drive chain 56 passes. The chain 53 also passes over asprocket wheel which is suitably mounted on the axle ll. With thisarrangement, it will be seen that as the traction wheel rotates due tothe device being moved forwardly along the ground, the axle II willrotate the sprocket which in turn will rotate the gear 55 through themedium of the chain 56. Rotation of the gear 55, of course, will rotatethe shaft 4i and the distributing plate 33.

As has already been noted, the invention is not to be limited to anyparticular type of distributing plate as the particular construction ofthe plate depends entirely upon the seed to be planted. In Figure ll,there is shown a modified form of distributor plate 51 which plate isparticularly adapted for use in the planting of cotton seed. This plateis formed with a plurality of notches 53 in its marginal edge portionand a plurality of Openings 59 which are located on a smaller diameterthan on the notches 58. The outer notches '58 are in alinement with theouter groove 33 and arcuate slot in the cover plate 32, while the inneropenings 59 are in alinement with the inner groove .34 and inner slot35. It will be obvious that the cotton seed which enters the opening 59will be ejected from said opening by the dog 53 and will escape throughthe vertical chute 28; The cotton seed entering the slot 58 will beejected by the dog 37 into the inclined chute 29. Various types ofdistributing plates may be used dependent upon the type of seed which isto be planted. The operation of the hopper is the same in all cases,that is, the distributing plate, no matter what its structure may be, isrotatable while the cover plate 32 is stationary, as is the bottom ll ofthe hopper.

It is pointed out that two species or varieties of seed may be plantedin the same furrow at one time by this hopper, whereby a special hopperor two hoppers are unnecessary and are obviated. By removing thepartition 3'! from the hopper, which may be easily and quickly done,said hopper may be converted into a one-seed hopper. Thus, the hopper isreadily convertible tothe type of hopper desired.

The foregoing description of the invention is explanatory thereof andvarious changes in the size, shape and materials, as well as in thedetails of the illustrated construction may be made, within the scope ofthe appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A seed hopper including, a casing, a vertical partition within saidcasing, said partition dividing said easing into two compartments, astationary plate within the casing spaced from the bottom thereof andhaving slots therein whereby seed within the two compartments of thehopper may fall into said slots said stationary plate being formed withannular grooves in its under side in alignment with said slots wherebythe passage of seeds beneath the stationary plate is facilitated, adistributor plate in the space between the stationary plate and bottomand having openings therein invertical alinement with said slots, meansfor rotating said distributor plate whereby the seeds from the slots mayenter said openings and be carried around beneath the stationary plate,spring-pressed scraper members carried by the stationary plate andadapted to remove excess seed from the upper surface of the distributorplate and allow only the seed within the openings and the distributorplate to pass onwardly, spring-pressed means carried by the stationaryplate and adapted to enter the openings in the distributor plate so asto force the seed from said openings, the casing having outletsimmediately below the spring means whereby seed forced from the openingsand distributor plate may escape from the hopper, and chutes leadingfrom the outlets for discharging the seed onto the ground.

2. A seed hopper including, a casing, a vertical partition within saidcasing, said partition dividing said easing into two compartments, astationary plate within the casing spaced from the bottom thereof andhaving a pair of slots therein whereby seed within the two compartmentsmay fall into the slots beneath said compartments said pressed'scrapermembers carried by the stationary plate and adapted to remove excessseed from the'upper surface of the distributor plate and a1- low o'nlythe seed within the openings and the distributor plate to pass onwardly,a pair of springpressed means carried by the stationary plate andadapted to enter'the openings in the distributor plate so as to forceseed from said openings, the casing having a pair of outlets immediatelybelow said spring means whereby the seed forced from theopenings 'intothe distributor plate may escape from the hopper the seed from onecompartment passing out through one opening and the seed from the othercompartment passing out the other opening, and a pair of chutes leadingfrom the outlets for discharging the seed onto the ground'whereby thetwo different types of seeds may be delivered onto the ground inseparate streams and at different points with relation to the hopper.

WILLIAM E. DEAN.

